FRANKFORT - There's a reason Harley Patterson is the defending Scioto Valley Conference Player of the Year, and it was on full display Monday evening.

Behind a strong pitching performance and a productive day at the plate, Unioto's do-it-all senior led his Shermans (3-1, 1-0 SVC) to an 8-3 win over Adena in both teams' conference openers.

"He's a bulldog. He's going to battle all the way through," Unioto coach Tony Taylor said of Patterson. "He's not going to quit, he's not going to pout. And at the plate, he was clutch. He was real big today. He's just a great kid to coach and he plays hard."

In six innings of work, Patterson (1-0) picked up the pitching win while allowing just a single hit and striking out 13. At the dish, he finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

"(Patterson) had good velocity today," Adena coach Tom Barr said. "He was wild to where it benefited him. He hit a couple of batters, which isn't a bad thing sometimes. Overall, he was consistent around the plate, had good velocity and mixed in his curve well. He kept our guys off-balance. We've hit the ball well all season. Today, we didn't."

Beating an ace

While Patterson was busy backing up his reputation as the league's best player, Adena's Ethan Kunkel (1-1) was busy making a name for himself.

The junior threw well against a talented starting nine before taking the loss. He lasted 5⅓ innings, surrendering two earned runs on eight hits and whiffing six hitters.

However, when he needed it the most, his defense didn't have his back.

"Ethan is going to be really good and today, he threw well against a really good lineup," Barr said. "Right now, he's our number one. We expect him to keep us in games. Today, if we play a little bit of defense, he keeps us in a game. We're not good enough to give teams free runs. We didn't do a good job of backing up our pitcher today."

Taylor agreed with Barr's sentiments and was happy with how his team approached facing a pitcher of Kunkel's caliber.

"We have to be aggressive at the plate," Taylor said. "We can't get behind, especially against a good pitcher like (Kunkel). The first pitch might be the best you see. I thought we did a good job of doing that, being aggressive, and not getting behind in the count."

It's about how you finish ...

Heading into the fifth inning, the Shermans found themselves in a 1-0 hole. But that's when they decided to awaken their bats.

After Unioto loaded the bases, Nick Ooten flew out to deep center field, allowing Ryan Burns to tag, score from third and tie the game. Up next, Carson DeBord singled to bring Hayden Longcoy home, giving the Tanks a 2-1 lead; one they'd never lose.

In the sixth, Patterson logged a two-run single to plate both Burns and Dalton Poole and extend Unioto's lead to 4-1. In the top of the seventh, the Shermans went ahead and sealed the deal, scoring four runs and taking an 8-1 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Warriors (2-1, 0-1 SVC) received a two-run single from Kunkel but that was much too little, too late.

Stat book

Offensively, Ryan Sigler followed Patterson, finishing 3-for-4 with a run while Burns finished 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs. Poole was 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run, and Longcoy was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

For Adena, Kunkel was 1-for-3 with two RBIs while Lucas Foglesong finished 1-for-2 with a run. Nate Throckmorton and Emmitt Cunningham were responsible for the team's remaining two runs.

All in all, Unioto pounded out 13 hits compared to Adena's two. The Shermans made just one error while the Warriors committed three.

What's on tap

Next up, the Shermans will travel to Huntington Wednesday evening while Adena plays the same night, hosting Westfall.

"We can't get too high and we can't get too low," Taylor said. "This is one win out of 14 games in the league. We've got a lot of great teams and great coaches to go against. We'll have to be ready to go Wednesday."

Reach Derrick Webb at drwebb@chillicothegazette.com or at 740-349-1102. Follow him on Twitter at @dw1509 or on Instagram at @chilligazsports.